“We talked last week about the future of Tiago,” the centre-back’s father told radio station Antena 1, reported here in the Daily Mail.

“They say he will have a chance and will go on the pre-season tour of Thailand.

“There are other clubs interested, like Sunderland, but Sunderland is a very cold city.”

The news will please many Liverpool fans who watched Ilori excel for Portugal Under-21s versus England Under-21s at the European Championships last week. Our 22-year-old kept Harry Kane quiet for the entirety of the game, which earned him rave reviews on Twitter.

We spent £7m on Ilori two summers ago, but he’s yet to play a single minute of first-team football for us. Loan spells at Granada and Bordeaux were interrupted by injuries, but it’s good to see the centre-back finally about to be given a chance.

He has all the attributes to develop into a top defender. He’s tall and quick, and prides himself on the fact he’s superb on the ball. Technically, there are few better centre-backs in Europe his age.

It’d be great to see one of Brendan Rodgers’ young signings come good following loan spells out of the club, and Ilori has the talent to do it. He won’t be given many chances if he doesn’t hit the ground running though, so it’s essential that he starts well.